Before the Ballot with Ward 15 Councillor Candidate and Incumbent Ted McMeekin

Welcome to this instalment of Before the Ballot, with Ward 15 Councillor Candidate and Incumbent Ted McMeekin.

Looking back on your current term, what accomplishments are you most proud of in your Ward? Please elaborate.

"What we think, what we know, and what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. It's what we do that matters." (John Ruskin, historian).

When I ran for City Council four years ago, I wasn't looking for something to do but rather to do something. The plan was simple, the Flamborough Waterdown Carlisle Millgrove communities would no longer be ignored by our city. Some good things have happened. I'm proud to have focused on critical infrastructure investments that make our community stronger.

• the District 3 Police/Fire/Dispatch Compound will house 40 police officers and 14 new firefighters.
• a first commununity Recreation Centre, moved from endless study to firm commitment.
• the desperately needed new elementary school our community lobbied so hard for is currently under construction.
• partnering with the Province and the Region of Halton to tackle necessary major road works that have lanquished for years, and
• a complete rebuild and widening of the iconic but unsafe Grindstone Creek Bridge on Dundas Street.

The projected Capital investment of current and committed works in 2025 and the next four years will in excess of $350 million, more than the cumulative total of capital investment over the past 20 years.

I was proud to create a 40-member Community Council to engage in identifying community needs and priorities. The group is made up of leaders from the Legion, service agencies and involved community members (no request to join the group is refused). The Community Council has acted to provide over $450,000 in Non-tax revenue support and seed money to 30 community groups and projects, including:

• Flamborough Food Bank (working out of Carlisle United Church).
• Food with Grace (out of Grace Angican)
• The Flamborough Santa Claus Parade (at risk of financial collapse at the start of this term of City Council).
• The Mountainview Neighbourhood community safety pilot.
• Waterdown District High School's Tastebuds Nutrition Program and student led Museum of Hope.
• The Flamborough Connects seniors service tax filing and anti-scam project.
• The 60 acre Souharissen Natural Area in Waterdown which celebrated its 10th. Anniversary in 2024. A WDHS student led initiative.
• Migrants Matter Flamborough supporting hundreds of agricultural workers in our community.
• Flamborough Archives, investing in the preservation of our history.
• Eagles Nest, to support youth and personal mental health programmong in Flamborough/Waterdown.
• Flamborough Women's Resource Centre, providing the only rural outreach and support for victims of domestic gender-based violence lving in the Flamborough/Waterdown area.

At City Council:

By working collaboratively and building issue-based Councillor coalitions, I have presented and seen passed, motions on food security, housing, the need for a National Basic Income Program, Interval House's work to combate gender-based violence, a call for the Province to create an Ontario Food Belt and over 30 local Ward 15 community grants.

With Strong Mayor powers and divergent visions for the city on Council, experienced political negotiation skills have been vital to delivering funding and services to Ward 15.

Further, I may be the only Coucillor in the history of our city to present a motion to actually BIND Council to a cap on property tax increases.

Resident Communication:

Keeping in touch matters. Listening and learning matters. Over this term of Council, my office and I have responded to constituent emails and phone calls within 24 hours or sooner, 94.2% of the time, a 2022 campaign promise kept. We also opened a first local constituency office at the Waterdown Library - open Thursday's from 2:00pm. to 8:00pm. and by appointment.

Looking back on your term, what things do you wish had gone differently. Please elaborate.

There were four things I wish had gone differently:

the signing of an engineering contract by the city to rebuild the Grindstone Creek bridge came without community consultation. This created both confusion and frustration. We overcame this challenge through constant daily advocacy to transportation and engineering staff. A community meeting was quickly organized. It was attended by 20 traffic and engineering staff and 250 concerned residents. The consensus from the meeting was to change the proposed travel protocol of east only travel over the bridge in year one and west only in year two, to the 12-hour east and 12-hour west protocol that currently prevails. We are now working with our third Director of Transportation in this term of Council. He has toured Ward 15 hotspots with me to advance common sense signalling, lane designations and a number of safety and road related issues. I also took the two previous Directors on an informative Ward tour.

the infamous 'Rain Tax' stormwater fee rollout, a sensible program to charge for water management, was supposed to be simple, fair and equitable. It wasn't! Instead, it turned into an anti-rural debacle charging farmers for rainfall falling off of large barns onto open fields and into streams. Both the Provincial Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hamilton requested that 'working farms' be exempt from this fee. I convened a trusted group of local agricultural stakeholders to guide a strategic response and proceeded to work closely with several Council colleagues (and especially Councillor Mark Tadison who took the lead at Council) to defend our rural intersts. All further study of this issue was deferred by Council to 2027. Going forward, I will not support any stormwater fee that unfairly targets our farmers and rural residents.

the Provincial imposition of SuperMayor powers that tended to undermine the importance of Council collaboration.

the Tiffany/Barton encampment fiscal fiasco. This has become a case study on how mis-manage an issue deemed by the city to be a 'crisis.' There were alternatives, like the Hamilton Alliance for Tiny Shelters, (HATS) that could have been a more responsible option. As the Hamilton Auditor pointed out in his scathing report, this Tiffany/Barton project was launched through the Mayor's directive and was kept away from Council.

the unfortunate cyber attack on our city, brought on, in part, by senior management not following direction requiring double authentication of our data system by all staff. The next term of Council must see increased scrutiny of municipal bureaucracy with enhanced and responsible oversight.

Residents across Hamilton continue to express concerns about affordability, infrastructure and public safety. What specific prioities would define your next term if re-elected?

The answer, if courageous enough to embrace it, is a relentless focus on ensuring value for every tax dollar. The City of Hamilton delivers 72 core services. As our city grows, demand for those services has predictably increased.

Our city controls 60% of its budget with the rest consisting of mandated services. Over half of that 60% the city controls is dedicated to staffing costs.

Unlike our two senior levels of government, municipalities, by law, cannot run a deficit. Access to revenue sources is also limited. Ensuring value can be best achieved by maximizing citizen engagement to identify core services in need of support from those that can be streamlined.

From my perspective the city must focus on public safety, including better maintenance of our roads, bridges and neighbourhood parks. While $150 million has been placed in the city budget for road upgrades and maintenance, we likely need to do more. We also will need to be more focused on efforts to build stronger partnerships with senior levels of government, as our city cannot resolve all of the challenges we face by ourselves. An inter-governmental 'shared sense of purpose', one that can more appropriately fund the costs of mental health, housing, domestic gender violence and food security concerns would be an important start.

What distinquishes you from potential challengers seeking to represent your Ward in this election?

For 35 years, Dr. Barb and I lived, worked and raised our young family in the Waterdown and Carlisle communities. I know and care about every corner of this community, from Campbellville Road to Mallard Trail to Grindstone Way.

I was owner of the award-winning CHAPTERS bookstore in Waterdown. My background in business has given me a good understanding of what our local businesses go through to balance the books and to create employment opportunities for our neighbours and teens.

Serving two terms as Mayor of the Town of Flamborough, followed by five terms as the MPP for Ancaster Dundas Flamborough and Westdale has been the privilege of a lifetime. My years serving as Parliamentary Assistant to three Ministers of Education and the Minister of Training Colleges and Universities, and later as the Minister of four Ministries: Government and Consumer Services, Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, Community and Social Services and Municipal Affairs and Housing, has provided a unique experiential backdrop to the important work of our city. Simply put, I know how government and bureaucracies are supposed to work and how to get things done.

My life journey has included factory work at Internnational Harvester, completion of four post-secondary degrees, work experience as Executive Director of the Burlington Social Planning and Research Council, Chairman of Part-time Studies at Mohwak College, Mission and Stewardship Officer with the United Church of Canada, and Wilfrid Laurier University Supervising professor (over an 11 year period) of 11 WLU graduate school MSW students.

In 2025 I was humbled to receive the Flamborough Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award.

If re-elected what would success look like for your ward by the end of your next term?

A great question. If given the privilege of re-election, I see success, in large part, as having completed the important work we've already started, while securing core services and bringing a major upgrade to the playground and recreational facilities in Memorial Park, Waterdown.

I'm a dreamer and perpetual optimist. In 2030 our community will celebtate a more efficient road and transportation system; a Dundas Street bridge that is a pleasure to cross on foot, by car, bike and even a wheel chair; a multi-use trail from the Mountainview community, all the way to our new recreation centre; a caring and diverse Community Council working together to build a caring and sustainable community; new neighbourhood schools and parks; the growth of new jobs and business opportunities as our community grows and commits more fully to a 'buy local' strategy; a BIA that continues to serve the expanded growth of local business; thriving Waterdown and area farm markets emphasizing the strong agricultural economy that feeds our city and beyond; a recognition of an expanding local tourism industry; children able to safely cross the bridge over #6 Highway by bike or on foot to access the our new community recreation centre adjacent to the Harry Howell Arena and, PWHL and AHL professional hockey players working to mentor potential young hockey stars. Finally, I envision a complete community that transitions parts of our ward, through thoughtful professional planning, from our village roots to modern infrastructure accomodating a growing population while maintaining and honouring our sense of a village community.

How can voters contact you to learn more about you, in the context of the election?

Voters can make contact on line:

• www.tedmcmeekin4ward15.com OR
• Ted@tedmcmeekin4ward15.com
• You may also catch me at the Waterdown Farmers Market on Saturday mornings or at the Jitterbug Cafe in Waterdown, 35 Main St. North, where I frequently hang out and meet constituents for coffee and conversation.

Thank-you Ted for engaging with Hamiltonians on The Hamiltonian!